The Medals of Zero
by JirouGarulu
Summary: Crossover between Kamen Rider OOO and Familiar of Zero. When a boy from the real world is brought to Tristain and somehow receives medals on the way, with several medals still to claim, how will Tristain manage the presence of a Rider and his foes?
1. Summoning, Familiar, & Five Core Medals

_The Medals of Zero_

_By JirouGarulu_

**Disclaimer:  
>I do not own any aspect of this story, neither Kamen Rider OOO nor Familiar of Zero belong to me, they belong to their respective companies. This is a fan-made piece of work and should not be distributed for profit. This is only to be posted on for the purpose of free entertainment and as such I will find out if it appears anywhere else.<strong>

_Chapter 1: Summoning, Familiar's Brand, and Five Core Medals_

The last thing I remember was walking home after a lesson, coming across what looked like a hole in the air. It was strange, but I felt like I had to touch it, just to see if it was real. As my hand drew closer to it, I began to hear a girl's voice, calling out to me. My hand entered the gap in space and I suddenly was pulled forward, completely into the strange space on the other side.

It was a dark, endless void, deep indigo and yet I could see everything clear as day. My body began to glow, quickly changing between eight colours: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, White, Purple, Orange and Black. Looking around, I saw several balls of light fly past me, all in colours that coincided with the ever changing light that surrounded me. While most of them flew into the distance, five of the lights stayed with me, one of from five of the eight colours, the only ones that ignored completely me were the Purple, Orange and Black lights, while only one light from each of the remaining colours stayed.

It was at that point, the void turned white as it began to reveal an exit. On the other side, I saw a large stone wall, lush green grass, and without control, I drifted closer towards the opening. For some reason, upon reaching the exit, I was hit by an explosion, forcing me onto my back, splayed out on the ground.

You know, all this and I never thought to introduce myself. My name's Jonathan Harris. I'm from the central area of the UK, and I'm a rather big Tokusatsu and Anime fan. I'm also a University Student who is currently in the first half of his final year.

Not that most of that mattered anymore.

* * *

><p>When I came to, I looked around, and saw a large number of people dressed in cloaks, mostly teenagers; I'd say around 15 years old at the latest. There was also a much older man, I'd say he was probably in his forties, and unlike most of the teenagers, he was holding a staff (I had seen one girl with one as I looked around.) Gathering my bearings, I checked to see if anything had happened to me.<p>

No injuries thankfully, but I was now wearing a rather familiar belt. It was black with light blue circuit lines running over it, with three slots on the front, all in a straight line. In my pocket I felt five small discs, taking them out; I saw that they were oddly coloured coins.

Each of them was a different colour, and they had animals marked on them. The red one had a hawk engraved onto it, while the others were a yellow tiger, a green grasshopper, a blue eel and a grey elephant. These things couldn't be what I thought they were, could they? I decided that I'd give them a better look later and quickly shoved them into my pocket.

Looking around again, in a bit more detail this time, I noticed a girl stood before me, looking down at me. Getting to my feet, I saw that I was much taller than her, the top of her head met with the middle of my chest. It was only then that I realized that she also happened to be bright red with what I could only guess was embarrassment.

"Are you serious?" She asked no one in particular. "_This_ is my familiar? The divine, beautiful, and powerful familiar that I requested? Is this some form of joke?"

From there things only served to be even more embarrassing, at least, what I could imagine was the case, there were a few people with various animals stood in the crowd. I saw what could only be a dragon and a large fire-tailed lizard. On the other end of the spectrum I saw frogs, parrots, and snakes, even one abnormally large mole. And the kids that were there were starting to comment on what was happening.

"Did you see that?" One asked, another then piped up.

"She summoned a Commoner for a familiar!"

"She really is Louise the Zero!"

With each comment I saw the girl in front of me turn redder and redder. The fact that some people were quietly laughing didn't help much either. I had the feeling this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, so I decided to help her out a little. I crouched down and whispered to her, "Looks like you could use a hand, what do you need me to do to shut them up?"

Her expression changed at that point, it wasn't so much embarrassment now as much as it was confusion. "Excuse me?" She whispered back.

"Tell me what I need to do to shut them up and I'll do what I can. So, what do you need?"

"Get down on one knee, and just follow my lead." She replied, her face losing a lot of the redness that was there before. I winked to let her know I understood and got into position. She took a more confident stance.

"T-Tell me your name and where you're from."

"My name is Jonathan Harris; I'm from the country of England." I replied.

"You've been brought from very far away then. There isn't a country by that name in Halkeginia. My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Now stay still as I complete the contract." She said, as she lifted a wand into the air. "Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my familiar." She declared as she tapped me on the head with the wand, following it up by lifting my head up and kissing me. To say the least I did _not_ expect that part or the searing pain in my left hand. I tried my best to withstand it, the only sign that it hurt being the fact that my right hand was clenched tightly. When it subsided I lifted my hand up to see what had happened and I saw some strange symbols on my hand.

"It is done." Louise said as I stood up. "We are now Master and Familiar."

"I look forward to a fruitful partnership." I replied with a grin. "We should be able to lay down a few ground rules later, right?"

"... Agreed." Louise replied hesitantly, as she looked towards the older gentleman.

"Very nice Miss Vallière. Now that everyone present has a familiar, you have no lessons until the day after tomorrow. Use this time to acquaint yourselves with your familiars. Class is dismissed!" He said as the crowd began to disperse. Sadly the co-operation I displayed did little to improve her apparent reputation. The most it had done was to stop them from commenting, at least for now. Louise was the one to break the silence.

"Follow me, we need to talk." She said calmly, turning towards the building behind us and walking towards it, I followed her, staying behind her so she could lead the way.

* * *

><p>About ten minutes later we arrived in a bedroom, which I could only guess was hers.<p>

"Why did you help me like that?" Louise asked sternly. "You even made it clear to me that as far as you were concerned, I needed it."

"Well let's just say I know what it's like to get treated like that. I figured you could use a hand because they were talking about you like you were a failure. Speaking of which, what did they mean by 'Louise the Zero' anyway?" I replied, curious about the nickname.

"It's nothing for you to be concerned about." She said, clearly this was a difficult topic for her,

"Say no more, I'll be clear though, you ever need a person to talk to, I'll be waiting."

"Like you have a choice in the matter. You're expected to obey me regardless of the task." Louise said coolly as she stood up and began unbuttoning her blouse.

"Erm, what are you doing?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Changing. What does it look like?" She replied, continuing on as if I wasn't even there. I quickly turned around so I wasn't looking.

"In front of me? That's not really something a girl should do."

"Well, you are only a familiar. You wouldn't be hesitant to change your clothes if the only other living being in the room was a house pet, so why should I hesitate in front of you, my familiar?" Louise argued. While she had a point with the pet part, she really needed to realise that I was human first, and a familiar second.

"And keep in mind Louise that I'm a human boy. There's more to take into account than my apparent social status." I replied, walking to the door. "I'll be back a little later, I'm gonna go explore the grounds a bit. Learn the layout of the area. Besides, I want to go see if any of my stuff turned up on the grounds. If you're still awake when I get back we'll be able to set up ground rules then, OK?"

I left the room without giving her a chance to respond and began looking for the stairs. Reaching into my pocket, I took out the five coins that had appeared in my possession when I arrived here. My gaze also shifted to the belt that I was still wearing for some reason. I pulled at the buckle and it came off, the rest of the belt vanishing. These things couldn't really be the OOO Driver and the Core Medals from the Kamen Rider franchise, could they? Looking at the medals I had, if these were the real deal, then I had Taka, Tora, Batta, Unagi and Zou, enough for a total of two Random Combos, and the TaToBa Combo. I couldn't leave this alone, if I had the powers of a Kamen Rider now, then they would be a real asset to me in this world.

Now, where was the courtyard again?

* * *

><p>It took me about five minutes to find the stairs, allowing me to head down to the courtyard, which had emptied since everyone had gotten their familiars. I put the driver to my waist, the belt reforming around me, and slotted in the Taka, Tora and Batta Medals.<p>

I had rotated the belt, ready to scan it, when I heard a scream from another area of the grounds. Looks like the medals would have to wait. Putting the scanner back in its holder, I ran towards the person who had screamed. When I arrived I didn't expect to see the source. It was a maid being attacked by a Yummy of all things!

It was a humanoid Yummy, a Heavy Mammal type. Its legs were wrapped in some form of hide, while its feet looked more like hands. Moving up the body, its chest and arms were covered by thick black hair, all the way down the arms (which were ridiculously muscular), only stopping at the creature's hands, and even then, the hair had covered the backs of them. Around it's neck and waist were the standard attachments to a Yummy, the belt made from chains and a small pair of hands reaching around its neck and closing around a white disc. I couldn't tell if there were any of the same discs on its shoulders because of the hair. The Yummy's head resembled an ape, with the typical human-style face inside the ape's mouth, aside from the two faces (the human and the ape) its head was covered in the same hair. Looking at it, it appeared to be screaming in anger. All in all it looked a lot like one would expect from a Gorilla Yummy.

How the heck did they get into this world, and if they were here, was there a Greeed nearby? I didn't have time to think, I had to act fast, and if these medals were legit, I knew how to face it on even grounds. I grabbed the scanner and ran it across my still loaded belt.

"Time to see if these work, HENSHIN!"

**TAKA! TORA! BATTA!**

**TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!**

The air filled with light as the familiar looking armour formed around me, the Helmet, styled after a red hawk, the black with yellow torso with the retracted claws forming a type of armguard, and the black with green legs featuring insect styled armour on each shin, leading to green feet. All three of these sections had lines leading to the chest plate of the armour, which carried a three part emblem featuring the designs on the medals, a section at the top representing the hawk, a yellow tiger in the middle, and a green grasshopper at the bottom. I looked down at myself, still not really believing what had happened.

"I-I can't believe it, these things are real!" I exclaimed, trying to take it all in before putting my hands to my face. "Focus Jonathan, you've got something to do right now." I muttered to myself, running to protect the maid that was under attack, once I was close enough I leapt towards the Yummy, landing a kick squarely in the chest.

"Now, now, now, attacking a poor defenceless maid? Looks like I'm gonna have to smack you around a bit as a punishment. Get ready Monkey Man, here comes the Kamen Rider!" I shouted as I landed.

Looks like Louise got part of what she wanted. If I got enough medals together now, I'd certainly be a powerful familiar.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued...<p>

_**Well then, first chapter done with, and we've already got an original Yummy for the first Rider Battle! I was originally going to name this story 'Familiar of ZerOOO', but Ten-Faced-Paladin beat me to it, so I quickly changed it to 'Medals of Zero'. This has been an idea in my head for a while now, and I starting writing it about 3 weeks ago, balancing it with schoolwork. Either way, Chapter 2 of this story is almost complete, I only need to finish off the scene that I'm up to and then round off the chapter, so an update to this one may be up soon! See you next time, and if you have an idea for an original Yummy, let me know and if I like it, I'll credit you for helping out with the story!**_


	2. Yummy, Acquaintances, and the Duel

_The Medals of Zero_

_By JirouGarulu_

**Disclaimer:  
>I do not own any aspect of this story, neither Kamen Rider OOO nor Familiar of Zero belong to me, they belong to their respective companies. This is a fan-made piece of work and should not be distributed for profit. This is only to be posted on for the purpose of free entertainment and as such I will find out if it appears anywhere else.<strong>

**Author's Mini Note: Sorry for the long time between chapters, Writers Block, Unemployment and University Work got in the way.**

**Also, minor editing was needed, a Runic Name being corrected and changing an attack name for something else. Thanks to Wolfbane420 for the correction.**

_Chapter 2: Yummy, Acquaintances, and the Duel_

When I had gotten up this morning, I hadn't expected to be pulled into another world. I hadn't expected to be bound to a teenage girl as her familiar, and I hadn't expected to become a Kamen Rider or to be facing a Yummy within my first day of being here.

The Gorilla Yummy stumbled towards me and the maid, feeling the effect of the kick I'd dealt it as it had slowed down from it's previous pace. I turned to look at the maid, who had fallen to the floor in fright after seeing me enter the fray.

"Are you OK? What's your name?" I asked, turning back to check on the Yummy every so often.

"I... I'm OK, my name's Siesta." She replied, finding it hard to speak right now.

"Well Siesta, good to hear you're alright." I added, quickly helping her up. "You can call me the Kamen Rider. Now, it'd be best if you run, I'll take care of this thing, but they do have a tendency to explode when you finish them off." She nodded, thanked me, and ran off. I turned around to face the Yummy. "Well then big guy, shall we dance?" I asked as I ran towards it, punching it in the face.

Of course, all that did was hurt my hand, and bring me into its range, where it proceeded to grab me and throw me to the ground before jumping and trying to slam its elbow into my stomach.

"Oh no you don't!" I shouted, rolling out of the way and quickly getting to my feet. "Now, you Yummy are made with a desire in mind. So then, what's yours?"

I didn't think it would actually answer me.

"Missing Cores... Must find... Cores..." It muttered, "You have Cores... Give to me..."

It suddenly sped up, leaping towards me in an attempted shoulder barge. I dodged the attack and tried to counter with a kick. It wasn't as effective as last time. Last time must have caught it by surprise, now it looked like I'd need something else to damage it. I moved away from it and put the belt back into its horizontal position. Taking out the Tora Medal, I grabbed the Unagi Core and slotted it into the belt. After dodging another shoulder barge I swiftly scanned the medals.

"Doesn't help matters that I'm on a limited selection right now." I said to myself as the scanner crossed the belt.

**TAKA! UNAGI! BATTA!**

The yellow portion of my armour changed as the new emblem on my chest took shape. In place of the yellow tiger, there was now an electric blue eel. My arms no longer retained the shoulder pads and claws that were present before. In their places were a set of streamlined shoulders and two thick white electrified whips connecting my new wrist guards to them from behind my arms. Along the outside of my arms was a pair of large white streaks, one on each arm, probably showing the electrical aspect to this medal.

"Right then, let's see how TakaUBa works on this thing." I said to myself, removing the whips from their holders and readying them for combat. Once they were in my hands though, something felt odd. I suddenly felt a lot more confident using two whips as weapons. I suddenly knew how to wield them to the best of my ability, and I could suddenly tell where the best areas to attack were. I took the initiative and struck it in the stomach, sending it reeling back as electricity surged through its body.

"Ok then, it looks like you don't like getting shocked. I can work with that." I shouted to it, sending a couple more lashes its way and keeping my distance (During this I saw that it had just as much hair on its back, and some of it was silver). I could dodge it easily enough from here, and all it would be able to do would be to try and close the gap. After all, last I checked, unless Gorillas grabbed something, they couldn't attack from a distance.

I decided to end it while I had the chance. I quickly scanned the medals again, drawing more of their power out into my body.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

With that call, three rings shot out into the air between the Yummy and me, although they stayed close to me, the third and furthest ring only being about halfway between the two of us. Using the whips I ensnared it and using all my upper body strength, pulled the Yummy towards me. While it was struggling to stop its forward momentum, I ran through the first and second rings, leaping into the air and aiming for a kick as I passed through the third. Electricity shot from the medals to surround my legs, as the whips let go just as we met in the middle.

"Take this!" I shouted as my foot slammed into the Yummy's head, creating a reasonable sized explosion as it was destroyed. As the dust settled, a single silver medal was left on the floor. Unlike my Core Medals, the one that had been left behind was a Cell Medal. On its surface were markings resembling a gorilla, unlike my medals which had a gold rim and a translucent, coloured center, this one was completely silver, and completely opaque. I quietly put it into the holder on my belt's left side, and I proceeded to make myself scarce, transforming back when I was certain that it was OK to do so.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected." I said to myself as I made my way back to Louise's room.

* * *

><p>Admittedly I had a little trouble doing so, to show how long it took, I had started trying to find my way back, the sun was just beginning to set. By the time I arrived back at her room, it had entirely set and two moons were starting to rise. I'd likely never get used to seeing two moons in the sky together, but that's not really all that relevant right now. Louise was busy reading when I knocked on the door, once she knew it was me she told me to come in, telling me to sit at her table.<p>

"We need to set up your list of Familiar Duties." She said sternly as I sat down.

"Ok then, fire away." I said, Louise looked at me confused, before I added "It means 'I'm ready, you can begin.'"

"Oh, right. Well then," She responded, clearing her throat. "I tend to wake up around seven o'clock most mornings, it will be your job to make sure that I am completely prepared for day of lessons, that means making sure I have my books ready and that my uniform is clean and neatly prepared for me. Should there not be any lessons that day, all that you will be required to do is to set out my clothing for the day."

"Fair enough, but there's one thing I'm going to make perfectly clear." I replied.

"And that is?" Louise asked, glaring at me.

"I'll set out your clothes, I'll make sure that you've got the books you need that day, and by the way, you'll need to set up a list for me so I know without having to ask every time it needs to be done. Anyway, as I was saying, I'll set out your clothes, with the exception of underwear. I draw the line at that." I explained.

"Very well, you would normally be tasked with gathering anything I need for my independent learning as well, but since you're not really suited for that task," She continued, pausing for a moment to sigh, "I guess _I'll_ have to do that by myself as well."

I couldn't help but notice the irritation in her voice.

Regardless, we continued on for a few hours, setting up what responsibilities I now had. A lot of it was basic stuff, but the one that caught my attention was protecting her during travel. If only she knew just how that would turn out. We arranged that on the Day of Void (the equivalent to a weekend here, about three days from now) that we'd head into town and purchase a sword for me, as well as a couple of alternate outfits for me to wear. After that, we called it a night. Louise going to bed, and me retreating to the bundle of hay that she had prepared, a Human apparently wasn't on her list of expectations for a familiar.

* * *

><p>The following morning, Louise and I had decided to spend a little time apart from each other while she studied in private, leaving me on my own for a few hours. I couldn't help but think about last night, my new powers, where the Yummy had come from, and how it had attacked that maid, Siesta, if I remembered her name right. Since I only had a few Cores and a single Cell in my pocket, I wasn't sure if someone had gotten their hands on a few medals and was using them for fun, if the Greeed had revived on this world, or if it was something else entirely that caused it to appear. Whatever the cause was, I needed to make sure that I kept an eye on these medals. Speaking of which, I needed to make a proper carrier for these things, it was already beginning to feel uncomfortable, and I only had six medals in the pockets!<p>

I got up and decided to look for Siesta. I wanted to see if she was OK after last night. Navigating through the crowd, something surprising caught my attention. A blonde guy, the one with that ridiculously large mole familiar was admiring a green coin, stopping for a moment on my way past to get a closer look, the lighter colour, gold rim and overall design gave it away as the Kamakiri, or Mantis, Medal.

Right now I needed to find Siesta, so I made a mental note of who had it, and decided to get it from him later. I left the crowd and asked one of the other maids where I could find her, their answer being the Boy's Dormitory and pointing me in the right direction. Thanking her, I took my leave.

* * *

><p>When I arrived at the tower, I noticed Siesta stood at the entrance.<p>

"Waiting for someone?" I asked as I approached her.

"Ah! Oh, you're Miss Vallière's familiar right?" She asked, quickly getting over the fact that I startled her a bit.

"Yep, just doing a little exploring right now." I replied, "So, as I said, waiting for someone?"

"Yes, I'm waiting for Mr. Gramont, one of the first year girls asked me to pass this on to him." She said, holding up a food basket.

"Which noble is he? Does he have a familiar?" I asked, having a suspicion that I knew who it was.

"Why yes, a large mole." She replied, "I heard his was a rare breed known for their size and sense of smell, apparently they're very useful when trying to find something."

So that was why the thing was huge.

"Well, I know where he is, I can pass it on to him if you want." I offered, this was a perfect chance to get that medal from him, one way or another.

"Really? Thank you!" She said, passing the basket to me. "I was worried that I would be stood here all day waiting for him. What's your name?"

"Just call me Jonathan," I replied, grinning and giving her the thumbs up. I guess most modern gestures weren't used here, because she looked at my hand, confused. "It's a thumbs up, for me, it means that I'm here to help, trust me, things like that. It's a positive gesture."

"Oh, right, well, thank you for helping me pass this on to Mr. Gramont, Jonathan. Goodbye for now!" She said, taking her leave.

"Right then, get this to Gramont, and get me a new medal." I said to myself, heading back to the courtyard, I hoped he hadn't left by now.

* * *

><p>Backtracking to the courtyard where all the students were, I saw that he was still there, only there was now a blonde girl with him. I walked over.<p>

"Erm, excuse me, Mr. Gramont?" I asked, trying to stay diplomatic.

"Yes? Oh, you're the commoner from yesterday. I'm surprised that the Zero that summoned you hasn't blown you up by now, or has she dismissed you already?" He said, incredibly smug. Looks like I was about to make an enemy of this guy, maybe the blonde girl was his girlfriend? Hmmm.

" Yes, Louise summoned me, and right now I'm doing a little exploring while she does a little reading, but I've got a gift from one of the first year girls right here and it's addressed to you." I replied, putting the basket on the table between them, and getting the attention of the blonde girl.

"Guiche, what is the meaning of this?" She growled, "And what first year girl?"

Yeah, I hit the mark there.

"Excuse me for a second Montmorency, I'll take care of this and be right back." He said in a hurry, before getting up and leading me away from the table. "Are you insane? Why would you do a thing like that?"

"Well it sounds to me, given your lady friend's reaction, that you were two timing, so that would put you in the wrong. All I did was help someone else out, the circumstances are your doing. Oh, and I don't take kindly to someone insulting a friend of mine." I replied.

"Y-You impudent little..." He replied, "Do you know who I am?"

"A pompous ass?" I replied, smirking. I wasn't even trying to hide that I was enjoying this. "Oh wait, that's what, not who. Mr. Pompous Ass!"

"T-T-That's it! I, Guiche de Gramont, challenge you to a duel!" He declared, catching the attention of everyone nearby.

"Name the time and place buddy." I replied, "Why don't we make this a little more interesting then? I saw you had an odd green coin earlier, a little like these," I added, taking out the Batta and Taka medals. "You see, I'm collecting them, so why don't we make a wager? First off do you still have it?"

"Of course!" Guiche replied, taking the Kamakiri medal out of his pocket. "This is the only one I have. Honestly I'm a little surprised that you have some as well."

"Oh yeah, I've got five, all in different colours. They're called the Core Medals. The wager is for the ones I have, for the one you have with you. Winner takes all of them. How does that sound?" I asked, "Of course, if you think you'll lose..."

"I won't lose, and I accept your terms. Meet me in one hour, in Vestri Court. We'll have our duel there!" He shouted, turning around and leaving.

"I'll be waiting." I muttered, turning to see, to my surprise, Siesta.

"Y-You can't be serious!" She cried, running up to me. "Y-You can't face Guiche, he's a noble! You'll be killed!"

"Siesta, yesterday, around sunset, you were attacked by a strange monkey-like monster right?" I asked, turning serious.

"How did you-" She asked, surprised.

"And you were saved by a man in weird armour right?" I asked again, getting another nod from her as she began to put the pieces together. I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"That monster exploded, just as I said." I said, keeping my voice low so only she could hear. That was when her expression changed, as my hand returned to my side. "I will win, count on it. Now, which way is Vestri Court?"

"Over that way." She said, pointing to her left. "It's the main courtyard, since it is the largest."

"Thanks Siesta." I replied, turning o leave before I remembered about Louise. "Oh! Would you be able to bring Louise to the duel? I think she needs to see just what her familiar is capable of." I asked, when she nodded again, I thanked her and left, trying to work out a combination to use.

* * *

><p>An hour passed and I arrived in Vestri Court, taking my place in the middle of the waiting crowd that surrounded me and Guiche.<p>

"I commend you for actually deciding to show up. It appears that you do have some courage to support your attitude." Guiche shouted above the chattering spectators, aiming a rose at me.

"I'm not the kind of guy that makes empty promises, I said I'd kick your ass and I intend to see it through." I replied, setting my belt into position. At that comment the crowd's attention was quickly changing from me to Guiche and back again. I then took out the cores for TaToBa out of my pocket and proceeded to slot Taka and Batta into their positions with my right hand, and taking the scanner afterwards. "I'll show you why I'm after that medal of yours, and the ones I own are just the weapons I need to do it."

"These medals are weapons? Rather odd for a warrior to use them, but you are an odd, impudent commoner after all, it does feel rather appropriate." He replied, as I was about to slot the last medal into the belt, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. Turning around, I saw Louise, and boy was she pissed.

"What are you doing you idiot?" She shouted, slapping me again. "You'll get yourself killed if you fight him! And Guiche, you should know better! Duels on School Grounds are strictly forbidden!"

"Correction, Louise, duels are only forbidden if those involved are both nobles. Since your familiar is a commoner, the rule is still in effect, but simply does not apply to this situation, so there's nothing to discuss." Guiche replied, letting a petal fall from the rose in his hand. As soon as it touched the ground, a feminine-looking statue wielding a sword appeared in its place.

"Since my Runic Name is Guiche the Bronze, I'll have this Bronze Valkyrie fight on my behalf. I assume you don't need any other weapons than what you already have?" He asked, smiling.

"Nope, I just need about 10 seconds to make myself look ready. Louise, step back. Now." I said, practically demanding that she did so. Hearing the tone of my voice, she stepped back a little. "Don't worry, I've got this guy beat." I finished smiling, sliding the Tora medal into place and slanting the driver. Running the scanner across them, I looked Guiche in the eye. "Don't blink. You'll miss what happens next. HENSHIN!"

**TAKA! TORA! BATTA!**

**TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!**

As the three rings of symbols moved around me, I noticed that any chatter from the people around us had ceased; their attention now firmly on me. When they vanished and the armour formed, I saw that Guiche was speechless.

"Well, you're right about one thing, I am an unusual familiar. And I'm going to kick your ass!" I roared, charging towards his Valkyrie, which proceeded to charge at me as well. Meeting in other in the middle, I called upon the power of the Tora Gauntlets, three large claws extending on each arm. Like last night, I felt a rush of confidence surge through me, knowledge and experience with using the claws flooding my mind. I caught the Valkyrie's sword with one set, and slashed the thing vertically with the other, reducing it to a pile of scraps in a few seconds.

"Got any more?" I asked, grinning behind the mask. Guiche was struggling to stay standing after seeing that, but when he realised I had asked for more, he quickly regained his stance and summoned five at once, each wielding a varying weapon. A quick scan allowed me to see a Broadsword, a Mace, and a Spear.

"Even with the armour of yours, not many in this academy have the ability fight against four Valkyries at once, and five would easily overwhelm a commoner like you." He declared, still trying to maintain his composure. Even if he looked confident, he didn't sound like it.

"Well, remember when I said I had five of these Medals? What if I said that the only medal I had no choice but to use; was the one that creates my helmet?" I asked, I couldn't help but snicker as the realisation dawned on him, and he began to sweat. "And, what if I said that I'm not just bound to this combination of medals?"

"W-Wait, you don't mean-" He asked.

"Yep, I can switch the other two medals as I see fit, and get new parts and weapons to kick your ass!" I replied, switching the Tora Medal for the Unagi Medal, and scanning them.

**TAKA! UNAGI! BATTA!**

Once again, as the rings of medals faded and my arm pieces shifted into the Unagi Arms, the people watching us had changed in mood, now chattering amongst each other again. Taking them out of their holders I felt the knowledge and experience change, changing my skill with the claws into skill with the whips, as I began to attack the Valkyries again, this time electrifying the hunks of metal and forcing them back, not allowing them to get close. By the time I finished a wave of attacks, I had left dents and minor marks caused by electrical burns on all four of them.

"Hey Louise." I called, grabbing the scanner. "You said you wanted a powerful familiar right? Well, what do ya think?" I added as I scanned the medals again.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

Letting the Rings fly, I trapped the group of Valkyries within the Unagi whips and pulled them towards me, actually managing to pull them off of the floor. Weapons that they were carrying clattered to the floor as I charged towards them, repeating the finisher from the previous night.

"And with this, you're done!" I shouted as my feet crashed into the first Valkyrie, electricity coursing through the group of Valkyries and creating a small explosion, with me standing amongst the rubble when the smoke cleared. Transforming back from OOO, I walked towards Guiche, who had fallen backwards in shock and was now sat on the ground, picking up the broadsword on the way, and held the tip of the blade inches away from his face.

"Looks like I win." I said calmly, lowering the sword and offering my hand to him. "I have to give you something though, it looks like you have some pretty good skills if you can create those things so quickly and in those numbers."

He was still speechless, but upon seeing me hold my hand out to him, he hesitantly took it and I pulled him . "T-Thank you, and as we agreed, here." He replied, taking out the Kamakiri Medal and handing it to me. I thanked him, and apologised to him for my little stunt earlier and returned to Louise.

"Looks like I've got some explaining to do, haven't I?" I asked her.

"Definitely." She replied. "I think you know just what I want to hear from you."

"Yep, I kinda figured." I answered, as the two of us left the courtyard, Siesta following behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, the ending to this chapter took a bit of working out. I knew how I wanted to end the fight; I just needed to work out what happened around the finisher.<strong>

**As for the Yummy Ideas, if you want to give any ideas for me to use (with you getting credit for coming up with it), it doesn't matter how detailed it is, you could just give me an animal for a basis and I'll try to make something around it, or you could describe a full Yummy.**

**Speaking of which...**

**Thanks to **_**PEJP Bengtzone V2 **_**for their idea for a Greeed, while I'm not going to be bringing original Greeeds into the story, I can use part of their idea as part of a Yummy for later on down the line, it likely won't appear for a while, but I will use your idea as inspiration for something!**

**Since I wound up publishing this _after_ fully writing Chapter 3, that chapter will be up in a few days. Again, sorry about the wait.**


	3. O Medals, Kamen Riders, and Encounters

_The Medals of Zero_

_By JirouGarulu_

**Disclaimer:  
>I do not own any aspect of this story, neither Kamen Rider OOO nor Familiar of Zero belong to me, they belong to their respective companies. This is a fan-made piece of work and should not be distributed for profit. This is only to be posted on for the purpose of free entertainment and as such I will find out if it appears anywhere else.<strong>

_Chapter 3: O-Medals, Kamen Riders, and Encounters_

"So, the stuff that I was doing during the duel with Guiche. Guess I've got a lot to explain." I said, as Louise, Siesta and I sat down in Louise's room. "Do you have some paper and something I can draw with? I'll be able to explain things a little easier."

"You do. Here." Louise replied, handing him a piece of parchment a small pot of ink and a quill before taking a seat across the table from me, with Siesta sitting next to her. "Now, what were those coins you used, and how were you able to transform like that? But first, why is the maid here?"

"Well, I saved her from a monster created by Medals. Since she's had first hand experience with what they can create, that means there's someone else with the ability to create these creatures, and you both would need to be able to spot the signs. At the same time, Siesta would be able to let us know if she spotted a Yummy."

"Right, although what if we're in different locations and there's no time to find each other?" Louise asked.

"I'm still working on that part. I'll get back to you with it." I said, "Anyway, these coins are called Core Medals. The basic idea behind them is that each medal contains the essence of a different animal, from large creatures such as an Elephant, to tiny creatures like Grasshoppers and Mantises. It doesn't even matter if they're aquatic animals, flying ones, or even extinct ones. However, you can tell the level of a Medal's power by the design. A completely silver medal like this," I explained, holding up the Gorilla Cell medal, "is what's called a Cell Medal, these are the weaker ones, with limited usage. Ones with a Gold Rim and a coloured center," I added, holding up the Taka Medal, "is a Core Medal. They're the ones to watch out for, because they have nearly limitless amounts of energy, but there's only a small number of them compared to the Cells. These two types of medal can be used in two different ways, the way I use them being a part of the Kamen Rider System, while the other thing you can use them for being to create either a Yummy if you're using Cell Medals, and if you're using both Cells and Cores, then you can create a creature known as a Greeed."

"Greeed, Yummy, what do you mean by that?" Siesta asked, Louise nodding in agreement.

"Well for that I'm going to have to be clear on two things. One, I'm not from this world. Two, the Medals, as they are right now, aren't from this world, nor are they really from mine." I stated; earning shocked and confused looks from the two girls sat across from me. "In my world, these are actually part of a work of fiction, hence the reason I knew how to use them, and how they work."

"Right, so please, tell us. What are the Greeed and the Yummy?" Siesta asked eagerly.

"Well, a Yummy is a creature like the one that attacked you yesterday. Speaking of which, why did it attack you?" I replied, "That one was looking for Core Medals."

"I don't know why, I think it may have just been because I was close by." Siesta replied.

"OK then, well, as for explaining what the Greeed are, I'll tell you the story of their creation, and their revival in the present day." I replied, taking the quill and quickly drawing out a human shape on the parchment, before sectioning off the portions according to where the chest plate on my armour was. Once I had done that, I placed the medals in the relevant area on the diagram.

"800 years prior to the main story, there was a King that sought godhood. To that end, he gave four Alchemists the task of creating a means for him to reach this goal. Their labours resulted in five sets of 10 medals, the sets containing the essences of several types of animal, categorized into Insects," I said, pointing at the green medals on the table, "Felines, Aquatic Animals, Heavy Mammals, and Birds." I added, pointing to the relevant medals as I gave their type. "These 50 medals formed the souls of the 5 beings referred to collectively as the Greeed. I'll give that a minute to sink in."

"He tried to become a God?" Louise asked, stunned. Siesta was sat quietly, her face pale.

"Yep, and trust me when I say this; it gets worse before it gets better." I replied, "You ready to move on?" I asked, receiving a tentative nod from Louise.

"Siesta?"

"Y-Yes, please continue." She replied.

"Ok then." I said, smiling softly. "Now, these weren't all that was created, the alchemists produced a massive amount of Cell Medals too. These were to form the bodies of the Greeed, the cells grouping around the cores and producing a physical form for them to interact with the world. By this result they can also be called Homunculi. However, they hadn't expected that the Greeed would do nothing. They simply existed, doing nothing. They didn't respond, eat, sleep, they just... _were._ This changed though when one Medal from each set was destroyed, oh did that change quickly. They became beings without true life or senses, sounds were muffled, colours faded, taste nonexistent. They were also rendered incapable of feeling deeper emotions such as love or grief. Four of them proceeded to rampage, hell bent on filling the void that now existed within them, one that could never be filled."

"They were stopped though, right?" Siesta asked, I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was hoping for a happy ending at least.

"They were. In the end, the King took to battling the Greeed himself, wielding a weapon powerful enough to match their strength. He used the very things that formed their soul, Core Medals. However he only made use of three. Taka, Tora, and Batta." I replied, moving them to the top of the parchment. "When translated, the names mean Hawk, Tiger, and Grasshopper respectively. However, these three were enough to defeat the Greeed, driving them back. Well, the King did receive help from the fifth Greeed, the Red Medal Greeed known as Ankh.

He assisted the King in driving back his kin, because secretly, Ankh planned to snatch power from the King when all was said and done. He hadn't expected though that the King would lose control, his desire twisted and amplified by the medals he wielded. Taking as many medals as he had gained from battling the Greed, he scanned them all at once, in an attempt to absorb their power and achieve the Godhood he had sought for so long. This backfired though, rather spectacularly in fact. You see, it was too much power, even for him to control. He wound up sealing the Greeed away, unwillingly transforming into their prison in the process. His own selfish desires were what killed him, and in the end, only Ankh's body was left intact. Admittedly though, his right arm and the medal that contained his mind had both been sealed with the rest of the Greeed. They became the content of myths, and even then, not very well known ones. 800 years passed and the tale was forgotten, lost to the sands of time, supposedly never to be heard from again." I finished, looking at the two of them.

"So the King's own greed is what proved to be his downfall?" Louise asked.

"And what happened to the parts of Ankh that weren't sealed?" Siesta asked, she'd picked up on the fact that I never explained what happened to the remainder of Ankh's body.

"Well now, I'll tell you that a little later, it links in to the second half of the tale." I replied, looking out the window, it was late in the afternoon when I had started my story, and by now the sun had almost set. "We've been here for a while now, and I'm a little hungry, what about you two?"

"Now that you mention it, I would like something to eat." Louise said, "Siesta, would you and Jonathan go get some food for the three of us?"

"Right away Miss Vallière. Although, I don't know if I should really..." Siesta replied, given how lousy the breakfast was for me, I'm guessing that Commoners and Nobles received different quality food.

"Don't worry, we'll say that Louise has two other students present and we happened to be around when she needed something fetched for her." I said, smiling. "Louise, I'll probably need to keep the cores with me. They're pretty dangerous if they aren't handled with care, plus if anyone comes after them, it's best to have someone who knows about their abilities ready to use them."

"Alright. Can I at least keep the Cell with me? I want to take a close look at it." She asked.

"Sure, just be careful with it. That thing can still create a Yummy if it gets too close to your head." I replied as we left, leaving Louise on her own.

* * *

><p>"What did you mean by 'too close to your forehead'?" Siesta asked as we reached the stairs.<p>

"Well, a Yummy is created when a Cell Medal is popped into a person. Most of the time a little slot appears on their forehead which acts as the point of entry." I said, "By the way, my Rider system's not the only one that I know about, there's a lot of other heroes in the fiction of my world that call themselves Riders."

"Really? What are they like?"

"Well, where to begin? Well, the early set, everything from the first 25 to 30 years, they were known collectively as the Showa Era Riders, for them, there were a few recurring aspects. One, they either worked alone or as part of a pair. Two, they were normally humans augmented with machinery, the end result being that they had strength and resilience far above that of an average person. Finally, they were known to gather as a whole group when it came to more difficult enemies. I will say though, when it comes to knowledge about the Showa Riders, I'm not as good with them as I am with the more recent riders." I explained. I had a feeling I'd have to recite this to Louise later, but well; I hardly ever got to go this in depth about the subject back home without people tuning me out by this point. But here, it was crazy how closely Siesta was listening to me.

"Kamen Riders sound so incredible." Siesta replied, impressed.

"Well, to be honest, back home, this subject would get you called immature and ridiculed to a degree, in some social circles. Here though, I'm somewhat able to live the story of one of my favourite riders. Because I know what signs to look out for, I can also try to avoid some aspects of the story and make it as if they never happened. Speaking of which, if you find a Core that isn't from the ones I showed you and Louise, let me know immediately. One set is extremely dangerous, and I'll tell you why when we head back to Louise."

"Ok." Siesta replied as we arrived at the Kitchens, suffice to say, we didn't need to lie about what we were doing, the staff there were only too happy to help (Plus since it turned out that they were allowed to have any food that they had cooked but hadn't been eaten at the meals throughout the day, apparently the Headmaster had given them permission. Quite a nice perk if I do say so myself.) They had even taken to calling me 'Our Sword' because of the way I had defeated Guiche. We arrived back at Louise's room soon after.

* * *

><p>"So, you two ready for the next part of the story?" I asked after we'd eaten, taking the Cores out and receiving the Cell back from Louise. They both nodded and took their seats from earlier.<p>

"Well, after the original sealing of the Greeed, 800 years passed and in the present day, at least, what I thought of as the present day back home, the container for the Greeed had been found and put into a Museum. It stayed there for a while until two thieves, looking for things to steal, accidentally triggered Ankh's revival, albeit in the form of a disembodied, floating arm, after all, that was all that had been sealed. Ankh in turn broke the seal on the other Greeed and fled with some of the Core Medals from two of his kin, and the key to the seal, a stone slab which was, and which returned to becoming the OOO Driver." I explained, placing the driver on the table. Louise took the chance to take a closer look at it, while I continued the story.

"Well, as you can imagine, with the seal broken, the Greeed revived. 800 years had passed, they were forgotten, but they were free to create as much havoc as they wished, all to fill that void that had stuck with them over the centuries." I started, before Siesta indicated she wanted to ask a question.

"You're calling one of the Greeed by name, but not the others, do they have names as well?" She asked. Thinking about it, I hadn't told them who the other Greeed were, and which medals they were connected to.

"You know, you make a good point there. They do have names, and they each represent one set of Cores. I've already mentioned Ankh, the bird Greeed. Then, for the others, first there's Uva the Cruel, who represents the Green Insect Cores. The second was known as Kazari the Schemer, for the Yellow Cat Medals. Third was Gamel the Mighty, for the Grey Heavy Mammal Cores, and finally, Mezool the Ruthless, representing the Blue Aquatic Medals." From there, I quickly explained how each of their names also linked into a Japanese Word that related to desire, as well as referencing how their Yummies were created. I then recited most of the plot points from the TV Show, also revealing the existence of the Purple, Black, and Orange Cores to the two of them. By the time I had finished, it was the middle of the night.

"So what you're saying is that there are three sets of Core Medals that we have yet to see." Louise replied,

"And the most important set is the Purple ones, since they'd simply aim to destroy." Siesta added.

"Yep. I'll need to be especially careful around those ones. Luckily though, they never ended up with the tenth core getting destroyed, so getting all ten together before a Greeed forms should stop one from forming in the first place. As for the Orange and the Black Cores, only three medals exist in each set, so there shouldn't be too much hassle with them." I quickly replied.

"Right then, I guess we're done for the-" Louise began, before getting cut off by a very loud scream from outside. "What was that?"

I ran to the window and looked around the Courtyard, initially not being able to see anything, it was a moment or two before I saw a female student running away from two figures, one with a hooded cloak obscuring their identity, and the other one moving in a more feral manner, looking in the direction they came from I could make out some scorch marks on the grass. I quickly went back to the table, grabbed the Cores and Driver, and set it up for the TaToBa Combo. "I'll go on ahead and try to keep those two busy. You two try and keep students and staff out of the way."

"Why should we try and keep people away? You fought Guiche with a crowd watching you no problem. Wouldn't it be better to fight with people helping you?" Louise asked, annoyed.

"Louise, while Guiche's Valkyries were easy for me to deal with, a Yummy is likely going to be a lot harder, and they have the ever so dangerous habit of exploding pretty violently when you finish them off. Keeping people away during a Yummy attack is by far the safer option. You'll be helping me a lot more by keeping people out of the crossfire. That way I don't need to worry about hurting innocent people" I replied, scanning the medals. "HENSHIN!"

**TAKA! TORA! BATTA!**

**TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!**

As the transformation finished and I stood in Louise's room in my Rider Form, I looked at Louise and Siesta, nodded to them and leapt out of the window.

Then I realised just how high I was, as I fell to the ground, landing not too badly, but not gracefully by any means. I'd sent a fair amount of pain through my legs and had I not been transformed at the time, that would have been one crappy way to go.

"Really need to work on the landing." I said to myself as I ran to intercept the two figures. Getting between them and the student they were following, all three of them stopped upon seeing me.

"So, what do we have here?" The cloaked figure, noticeably male, said arrogantly, "Looks like someone got hold of some Medals and found a way to transform." He added, his partner snarling menacingly.

"And who are you?"

"That's not important right now. What is important is that brat behind you has something that I want." He replied, gesturing to the student behind me. Looking at her I realised that she was younger than Louise, no wonder she looked terrified.

"You know, they're not going to stop until they get that. Pass it to me, and I'll keep it and you safe. OK?" I said to her, holding out my hand. "I'm going to need you to trust me, I want nothing more than to make sure that these things aren't misused. Familiar's honor."

That seemed to calm her down a little, as she inched closer, placing the medal into my hand. "Thank you. Now get to safety, fast as you can OK? You're no longer who they're after, but this may get a bit messy." I added. She smiled, nodded and ran off, a member of staff that had arrived helping her inside as she reached the dorms.

"Now it's just you two and me." I said, taking a look at the medal. Lion. Admittedly Kuwagata would have been better since I'd have had a combo from that, but a blinding ability was good too. The cloaked man reached for his hood, pulling it down. It was a male in his late teens or early twenties, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. There was also a small scar on his top lip.

"So it seems." He replied, looking to his accomplice. "Shed that human shell, you don't need it anymore."

I looked at the man that was on all fours, finally noticing that parts of his body had bandages wrapped around them. A split across his back formed as yellow energy poured from it, a creature pulling itself from the person. As it faded, it looked a lot like a humanoid panther, with a body that was primarily black and dark grey, the only accents being the white on the feet and lower legs, resembling footwear, and the elongated, blade-like silver fingers on its left hand. Outside of those parts the standard aspects of a Yummy's design (the circle marks on parts of its body, and the chain belt across its midsection) were present. The human face on the yummy had a single fang on the left side, with the panther head resting above it. Looking at the parent, he was now laid on the ground, unconscious, but alive and unharmed.

"Just who are you?" I asked sternly, the Tora Claws extending.

"Oh? You want to know that badly?" The man asked, grinning maniacally. "Very well. My human name isn't of any real note, since I've left that identity behind, but there is a second name I possess, one that is extremely important for you to remeber." He added, lifting his right arm and revealing it to me. I stepped back in shock. I saw four yellow Core Medals glowing in his arm, brightly enough for me to see which ones they were, two Lions, a Tora, and a Cheetah Medal.

"My new name, is Kazari." He said arrogantly, his eyes gaining a slight yellow glow.

* * *

><p><strong>A very dialogue heavy chapter, and hopefully next time will be a more action-centric one.<strong>

**At the very least, the gap between this chapter and chapter 2 is a lot smaller than the previous one. I know what the events for the next chapter are, but at this point, I've gotten back into the swing of things with my Pony fic, so I'm going to be focusing properly on that when I have time to write. **


	4. Greeed, Swords, and a Rematch

_Medals of Zero_

_By JirouGarulu_

**Disclaimer:  
>I do not own any aspect of this story, neither Kamen Rider OOO nor Familiar of Zero belong to me, they belong to their respective companies. This is a fan-made piece of work and should not be distributed for profit. This is only to be posted on for the purpose of free entertainment and as such I will find out if it appears anywhere else.<strong>

_Chapter 4: Greeed, Swords, and a Rematch_

"K-Kazari?" I asked, stepping back in shock.

"Judging from your reaction, you were expecting someone else to have that name?" Kazari replied, grinning, and then looking to his Yummy. "Get me the medals that he has, and then I'll give you more power than you can imagine."

That prompted a response from the Yummy, which proceeded to charge at me. Quickly putting the Lion Medal into the holder on my belt, I then used the Tora Claws to hold back the Yummy's own claws, only to then be met with a kick to the stomach that forced me backwards.

"Ok, so you're better than the monkey from yesterday." I said, trying to catch my breath. Looking up, I froze in shock.

The Yummy had vanished.

I could see Kazari, albeit barely, and I could easily see the school when I looked around, but the Yummy had completely vanished.

"What the? Where the hell-" I started, only to get struck on the side of my head, knocking me back to the ground. Struggling to my feet, I was quickly struck in the other side, forcing me to my knees. Looking back to Kazari, the Yummy had returned to his side, ready to attack again.

"_It's over there now?_ _Just how fast is this one?_" I thought, keeping my eye on the Yummy. While watching it, I reached to my medals and felt for the Lion Core and the Kamakiri Core. After finding them, I swiftly changed the Cores and scanned them.

**LION! KAMAKIRI! BATTA!**

As my helmet and arms changed, I felt energy building up around my eyes as a bright light erupted from my face, blanketing the area in front of me. With the light there I could see the Yummy clear as day, and I could tell from its reactions that it didn't like the light. Leaping towards the Yummy I managed to land a couple of slashes, gaining some Cell Medals but not managing to defeat it before the light faded. At the same time, I had knocked the Yummy back towards its host, accidentally letting it get away.

"Hmmm, didn't see that weakness coming. I'll have to make a few preparations for next time." Kazari said, turning around before pausing for a moment. "Oh, and before I go, I'll tell you a little something, make things a little more interesting. As things stand now, you're the only one who has come into possession of Medals from more than one set." He said as he began walking away, as the Possessed Host got up and followed him. When I was certain he had left, I ended the transformation and grabbed the Cells that had been scattered around the area where the Yummy had been before I slashed it, only to be met by a group comprised of Louise, Siesta, Guiche and Montmorency, the teacher from the summoning, as well as a redhead and a small blue haired girl with glasses.

"J-just what was that thing!" Guiche asked, flustered.

"That Guiche was a Yummy. A monster made of these." I explained, showing the handful of Cells that I'd gained. "I'm guessing you want a more complete explanation though."

"I think that would be best." The teacher replied. "Come with me, we'll use one of the classrooms."

* * *

><p>Once we had arrived in a classroom, I was properly introduced to Mr. Colbert, Kirche and Tabitha. During the introductions, I discovered that Kirche and Louise weren't too fond of each other, which Montmorency explained was because of a rivalry between their families. She didn't know much more than that though, so I didn't find out any finer details. After that, I then proceeded to give them a summarized version of events that detailed my powers, the Greeed, and the story of the TV Show. Hopefully I wouldn't have to explain again, it was tough dealing with long winded explanations multiple times in a relatively short time frame.<p>

"So the person controlling the monster you fought, there's 5 more people like him?" Guiche asked,

"And the one from just now was the second one you know of?" Montmorency added.

"Yep, there are, well, at most there's five more. The first Yummy that I fought was the one that attacked Siesta last night. Because of that, and what Kazari told me, I can tell that someone got hold of the Heavy Mammal Cores. So long as that guy doesn't fully become his Greeed form, he's a lot less dangerous." I replied.

"Why's that?" Louise asked. "You never mentioned anything about the Greeed's abilities in the first place."

"I didn't, really? Ok then. Well, when a Greeed has all nine of their core medals, each of them gets a massive power boost and a new power of sorts. For Kazari, it would be a new weapon in the form of what would look like dreadlocks. Easy enough to deal with, you've just got to be more careful because there's more angles for him to attack from and he can strike from multiple directions at once. Gamel, the Heavy Mammal Greeed, on the other hand, gets the ability to convert anything he touches into large quantities of Cell Medals, be it animals, objects, or people. All he'd have to do in order to use that power is grab you." I explained, placing my hand on Louise's shoulder.

"If I was a fully revived Gamel, you'd be dead the moment my hand touched your shoulder." I added, Louise turning pale at the thought. "As you can imagine, that ability alone makes him one of the more dangerous Greeed, combined with his ability to create a fully matured Yummy with one Cell Medal, he becomes arguably one of the most dangerous Greeed. Thankfully though he's not all that bright, nor is he really all that evil, or else we'd not really stand a chance, plus I've got one of his Cores, so he can't fully restore himself right now anyway."

"That's good, but taking things one step at a time, how do you intend to beat the Yummy that you fought just now? It was pretty clear that you were struggling." Montmorency asked.

"I've got a plan now." I replied, "I noticed that when I used the Lion Core, the light it emitted practically crippled the thing. I don't know how it got that ability, but it appears to get stronger when fighting in darker environments. Either that or it was simply blinded and it doesn't like the light. If only I had some of the gear that used Cell Medals, then I'd have a much bigger chance against it, and any others like it."

"And what sort of items would they be?" Mr Colbert asked.

"It's kind of hard to explain. One item though, the Medajalibur, would be ideal right now, because I wouldn't need to get close to finish him." I replied.

"Why's that?" Montmorency asked.

"Well, the Medajalibur grows more powerful when Cell Medals are inserted into it. With three of them, well, let's just say that I'd be able to cut clean through the main building of the Academy... and the sky behind it." I answered, that last part got me a fair few gasps and surprised looks.

"They're that powerful?" Mr Colbert asked, stunned.

"Well, the safeties that the sword has means that any damage inflicted to anything but a Yummy or Greeed would be instantly repaired, but it is quite the display, seeing a sword cut a tower clean in two, even if it only lasts for a few seconds." I replied, smiling as I saw a mixture of relief and disbelief on everyone's faces. "Either way, if we could find that sword before the next attack, I'd have a much better chance, and a way to use the Cells, meaning they'd no longer be something to keep out of enemy hands, they'd be a valuable weapon for us."

"I believe that I can help you with your dilemma."

Turning to the door, I saw an elderly man with a long gray beard and a mouse in his hand, and a green haired woman with glasses.

"Headmaster Osmand! Miss Longueville!" Kirche said, surprised.

"From what I've heard, you're looking for a special sword that uses some of those Medals that you own. Well, given that the monster you fought is likely to reappear soon, I've decided to cancel classes for a few days so that creature can be defeated, that should allow for preparations to be put in place. As such, I recommend that you use tomorrow to find yourself a sword." Osmand said warmly. "You never know what you'll find. Don't worry though, we'll get the academy ready for a second assault while you search."

"But Headmaster!" Louise replied, "We don't know when that Yummy will attack again, nor do we know where to begin looking for that Medajalibur thing that Jonathan's told us about!"

"Yeah but Louise, when you think about it, I started with 5 medals and the driver, that's since increased to seven Cores, over 10 Cells, and the Driver, while 4 Yellow Cores are with Kazari. I think the summoning may have linked the medals to you and me, and if that's true, then maybe it applies to the related gear as well?" I explained, "Of course, I'm only theorising, for all I know this is one big coincidence or we're just _that_ lucky. Or it could all just be entirely nonsense, you never know."

Saying that seemed to calm Louise down a little as she gave a slight chuckle.

"True, and if we can't find your... erm, Medajalibur?" She asked, I nodded in response, "We could always just opt for a regular sword for the time being, right?" She added, getting another nod from me.

"It's settled then, Ms Vallière and Mr Harris will try to find a Medajalibur Sword, while the Faculty and other Students will work to fortify the school and to prepare for a second attack." Osmand decided.

"I'll tell you what I know." I added, "Prepare a means of getting bright lights that can be turned on at will, directed _and sustained_. It didn't seem to like that sort of thing when I fought it. It should help, in theory."

"I'll see what I can do for that." Colbert replied, "I have an idea on something that could work, but right now I'll need to get some things prepared."

"Well, we need to be ready for tomorrow, so everyone get some rest. We'll see you tomorrow." Osmand finished, as he and Miss Longueville left, after that, we all said our goodbyes and separated for the night.

Well, most of us did, Kirche had decided that she wanted me to go with her, so while Louise and I were trying to head back to her room, Kirche had other ideas, and they involved her latching onto my arm. Suffice to say, Louise was not happy.

"Zerbst! Release my familiar this instant!" She growled, yep, I'm scared. I faced a Yummy with the utmost confidence just after discovering the medals were legit, I leapt out of a window to save someone without a second thought (at first, and even then, I should have thought differently about the window part), but seeing Louise seething with rage? That's what catches me out.

"Dream on Vallière, I can't just give up a man like him. You'll have to make do without him for tonight. Now then Jonathan, darling, why don't we head back to my room for some fun hmm?" Kirche asked, pressing her chest into my arm and making me _very_ uncomfortable. It wasn't helped by the scary mood Louise was in.

"I-I'm going to have to pass. N-Now please, let go of my arm." I replied, trying to remove my arm from her grip, and struggling. The more I tried to remove my arm, the tighter she held on. "You've got to trust me Louise, I'm trying to get away from her, but damn she's strong!"

I should really clarify something right here. I tend to get really nervous when girls invade my personal space without my permission, forming the Contract with Louise being one of the few exceptions, because, well, I was helping her out.

"Jonathan... if you don't remove her from your arm this instant, you will go without food tomorrow, and you will be sleeping outside!" Louise roared, scaring me beyond all belief. I tried even harder to free my arm, ultimately trying to throw Kirche to get her to let go. Her response? Trying to drag me back to her room.

To cut a long story short, while I got Kirche to keep away from me for the time being, it wasn't in time to keep Louise happy, meaning I was forced to sleep outside. At the very least, we reached a compromise on the food issue, once the Yummy was defeated; I was to go without food the following day.

Anyway, moving on...

* * *

><p>The next morning, I woke up from my bed for that night, an area near the entrance to the Dorms, to find Louise walking towards me.<p>

"Are you ready to go?" She asked as I stood up.

"Aren't we eating first?" I replied.

"It's still a little early for that, so we'll have something to eat in town when we arrive." She replied, as the two of us walked towards the horses, Louise leading the way of course. After making sure I had the Medals, both Cores and Cells, which we had accumulated thus far (Now stored in two small bags that were now on my belt, one for each type of Medal), as well as the Driver, we set off for the town, arriving within around an hour or so of travel time.

"So this place is where we'll find me a sword huh?" I asked, taking in the area.

"That's right. We'll also be finding you some extra clothing as well. You've had the ones you're currently wearing on for two days now, so you could do with some spares." Louise replied, making sure the horses were tethered. (I had had a decent amount of trouble with riding a horse; it wasn't as easy as I thought it'd be; it definitely looked that way on TV.)

"Fair enough, the sword will likely cost more, so let's look for that first. We'll be able to work out how much of the budget is going to be good for clothes once the important bit's all sorted." I suggested, Louise nodding in agreement.

Remind me never to go shopping with Louise again. Nothing was good enough for her, and I'm not talking about quality of goods. She knew what she wanted; it just wound up being that what she wanted was extravagance. Nothing looked expensive or regal enough for her tastes, even though I was the one to be using what we bought today.

Finally, after three separate weapons shops, I managed to get Louise to try out a smaller place, which, despite its size, had a rather sizeable selection of swords on hand. Louise in particular was drawn to an overly elaborate Gilded Sword, which I knew just from looking at it was more for display than actual use.

"Louise, leave that one alone, I'm not interested in it!" I called to her, looking in a barrel of older swords, from the look of things, it was one of the shop's bargain bins.

"Just our luck, it's too expensive anyway." Louise replied, sounding disappointed, "It would have looked fantastic with your armour."

"Yeah and it probably would have broken first time I swing it. You do know that was more of a display piece right?" I argued, "Doubt it would have lasted in battle anyway."

"Sounds like you have a good grasp on sword quality; either that or you're looking for something in particular." I heard a voice say, apparently from nowhere.

"Who's there?" I asked, seeing a sword pop up out of the barrel to my left. To my surprise, it then began to speak.

"Over here kiddo," The sword replied, chuckling. "The name's Derflinger. What kind of sword are you after?"

"Well this is a surprise, never met a talking sword before. I'm looking for a blade that's sturdy to start off. One that won't break after a little rough combat." I replied, still coming to terms that I was talking to a sword.

"Well, sounds like I'm the one you'd be good with. I may be an old sword, but I'm as sturdy as they come. Plus, talking swords are really rare." Derflinger replied, trying to make himself sound better than he looked. He was pretty rusty, although after picking it up, I felt something similar to when I was fighting in Rider form.

"Yeah, hey, shopkeep! I'll take 'im!" I shouted; the guy's reaction was odd. He was happy to get rid of Derflinger, only requiring a fraction of the cost marked on the barrel that he was in. On the other hand though, he was disappointed that he couldn't get more money out of us (thanks to Louise talking him down, I had to hand it to her, she was clever, definitely good for getting a real bargin.) We also checked about the Medajalibur, and while the guy may have been a bit of a swindler when it came to nobles, I think he was still somewhat giddy about my purchase, since he told us where he had seen a sword like the Medajalibur a few days back, in one of the other stores that we had been to that day. Upon hearing that and paying the guy, we swiftly ran for one of the stores we'd been to previously.

The shopkeep's info had been accurate. We'd managed to find the Medajalibur in one of the previous stores that we'd been to. The guy had received it as an added piece of merchandise from a supplier, and had intended to sell it as scrap if no one had bought it by this time next week.

"Now that's lucky!" I exclaimed as we started to wander. "Not only did we find a talking sword with some good quality to it, we also found the Medajalibur, meaning the Cell's are a great tool to us now!"

"Hey Partner, why's this Medajalibur thing such a good find anyway, ya make it sound like ya didn't want me!" Derf asked, sounding slightly upset.

"It's kind of like that I'm afraid, we were looking for the Medajalibur at first because it's able to work in sync with my main skill set. As for you Derf, it's not like you'll simply collect dust like you were in that store. I'll be calling upon you if I have to fight without my normal selection of powers." I replied, starting to explain to him about my Rider Abilities and how I felt a similar response from him to my Rider Weapons.

"Wow, I've really found a great partner! You've got those abilities under your belt?" He asked, me groaning at the unintentional pun. "Looks like things'll be really interestin', even if I'm not always the one you reach for."

"Well, you never know, I may not have the Cells to use the Medajalibur at the time, that's the difference between you and it Derf, you don't require payment to use, so all in all, you're also the sword I'd rely on if I was low on Cells."

"Oooh Darling!" We heard, me freezing up. Louise starting to turn red, and Derf, taking our cues, sinking completely into his scabbard.

"Ah crap, she followed us?" I muttered, loud enough for only Louise and Derf to hear. I turned around to see Kirche running up to us, Tabitha in tow and the Display Sword from earlier in Kirche's arms. Quickly looking up I noticed a blue dragon in the sky. Thinking about it, it must've been Tabitha's familiar, given what I learned from Louise.

"Who's she, partner?" Derf asked, poking up out of his scabbard just enough for his 'mouth' to be able to move.

"That, Derf, is Kirche, she's a problematic one. You're about to see why." I replied, as Kirche reached us. The dragon landed near the group.

"Oh Darling I've been looking all over for you!" Kirche gushed, "I figured that finding the specific sword that you wanted was going to be a difficult task, and so, just in case you couldn't find it, I found you a sword that would look simply stunning with your armour!" She added, holding out the sword to me.

"Erm, Kirche? You do see the _two_ swords on my back right?" I replied, keeping to a distance I was comfortable with, "See the one with a similar pattern to my Driver? That's the very sword we came here to find. Anyway, weren't you meant to be helping Mr Colbert and the other teachers prepare for the second battle with Kazari's Yummy?"

"Well, I figured that I'd be better off helping you get ready for the fight, and with this sword you'll have no trouble, and you'll have two spares if you need them!" Kirche replied, beaming.

"Well, points for the intent, but I'm afraid I'll be sticking with the two that Louise helped me find." I replied, trying to sound diplomatic. "After all, she is the one that summoned me, so I'm more inclined to go with her choices."

Again, Kirche's reply was to plead with me to take her sword anyway, despite my protests, she also began to get closer to me, making me a little nervous.

Now, during all this, Louise had caught on that I was trying my best to let Kirche down gently, but the fact that she was not taking no for an answer ultimately proved too much for the pink haired one to take.

"Zerbst! He has politely turned your offer down; now stop pestering us this instant!" Louise yelled, drawing her wand.

"OK, before this thing gets out of hand, we'll head back to the school and sort things out there while I rest up for the next round with Kazari and his Yummy." I interrupted, speaking a little quicker than normal. "I'll ride the horse I used to get here, Louise uses hers, and Kirche..."

"I'll ride with you Darling!" Kirche beamed,

"What? No! No, you'll be returning to the school the way you got here. Given that Tabitha's here with her familiar, I'm guessing you hitched a ride with her, so you'll be returning with her, if that's alright with you Tabitha?"

Now I didn't know that Tabitha was ridiculously quiet. In fact, her entire response to my request was a nod and a signal to her dragon, which Louise later told me was called Sylphid. Upon giving the signal, Tabitha clambered up onto its back and Sylphid began to lift off, also grabbing Kirche as it left.

"Well, shall we?" I asked Louise, smiling. We quickly returned to the horses and rode back to the Academy.

* * *

><p>After we arrived at the academy, I proceeded to make sure I would be ready to face the Yummy. That involved things like making sure I'd eaten, that I knew which forms were available to me, and trying to come up with a battle plan should some of the preparations fail to have an effect.<p>

To put things simply, one of the major things that had been made (and remarkably quickly too, magic must have been useful in the construction), was a large lantern-style burner that, given the parts that formed the structure around it, resembled a medieval style spotlight of sorts.

The dining hall had also been cleared for the purposes of luring the yummy into it, since the room could be kept lit up easily, and would provide consistent light, it was a good idea.

Once they had told me what they had ready and waiting and all my personal prepping was done, all we had left to do now was to wait.

* * *

><p>That night, around midnight according to Louise, I had made sure everything was ready to go, and I had even arranged for something that would likely catch Kazari off guard. Just as we'd suspected, Kazari had shown up again with the Yummy in tow. Presumably it had engulfed its host during the day. Physically, it hadn't changed all that much, the only real difference was that it looked a bit bulkier.<p>

I got up, Core Medals in my belt, and having left the Medajalibur with Louise. I was going to go straight for a form with Lion involved this time; after all, the Yummy had likely fully matured, so it would most likely gotten stronger since the last time. I needed to get the Yummy to an area where there was more light than dark, and with a little help from some new friends, my plan might just work.

"Kazari!" I called out, catching their attention.

"So, you want another shot at my Yummy huh?" Kazari replied, a sly grin on his face, "I don't know, you barely hurt it last time, and it wasn't completely mature yet. It is ready now though, so even that extra Core of mine won't help you now."

"Oh, really? I beg to differ." I replied, giving the signal for Mr Colbert to begin. On cue, several torches lit up around the area, and the large light began to shine, the operators adjusting it to shine on the Yummy.

"Don't think we didn't prepare. We were expecting you." I finished, scanning the medals in my driver. "HENSHIN!"

**LION! TORA! BATTA!**

As the armour formed around me and the blinding light flooded from the Lion Helmet, I leapt at the Yummy, claws extended and slashing straight into its torso, creating a large opening. Looking inside, I saw exactly what I expected, a man stuck in a swirling mass of Cell Medals. Quickly recalling the claws I reaching inside and tried to grab onto the guy's hand. He noticed me and after a little struggling, we managed to reach and grab each other's wrist.

"I'm here to get you out, but you'll need to hang on tight, and prepare for landing!" I called, he looked at me with a bit of confusion but he realised what I meant when I pulled him clean out of the Yummy, throwing him towards Guiche who was ready and waiting.

"Get him to an infirmary, but make sure he's restrained, we still don't know what his desire was." I shouted. As the man landed, he lost consciousness.

"Right away!" Guiche replied, him and a few other students lifting the man up and leaving the scene. Looking back towards the Yummy, it had begun trying to get up again, obviously weakened by the lack of its parent.

"And there's the chance we've been looking for." I said, Kazari's eyes widening in realisation. "NOW!"

At that moment we heard a roar as Sylphid flew in, grabbing the Yummy and dropping it towards Tabitha, who used some form of Wind Spell to throw the Yummy into the dining hall. She went in after it, the doors closing as she entered. Kirche should already be inside and the two of them were to keep the Yummy from interfering over here while I dealt with Kazari.

"Now it's just you and me." I sneered, changing my Medals.

**TAKA! UNAGI! ZOU!**

As the transformation finished and I stood before him with the TakaUZo armour in place, I noticed that Kazari had realised just what had happened, and he wasn't happy that I'd caught him out.

"Y-You will PAY for mocking me!" He snarled, throwing away his cloak to reveal the kind of clothing you'd see a fantasy Assassin wearing, on one of his armguards he even had some blades coming from it, resembling the claws from his namesake. Taking out a long dagger, he charged at me, thrusting it forward as he got close. I tried to jump backwards to stay out of range, but I wasn't all that used to the Zou legs at this point (They were much heavier than what I was used to, and I didn't expect him to fight like this), so I didn't get very far. It didn't matter though, because the medals in his arm began to glow, as did the blade of the dagger. It shot out a twister as it got close and hit me square in the gut. Needless to say it caught me off guard and I was thrown back, landing on my side and breaking the transformation, the Unagi and Zou Medals forced out of the belt.

"Ok, so you've got skills." I muttered, slotting the Tora and Batta Medals in place and readying the Scanner. "Henshin!"

**TAKA! TORA! BATTA!**

**TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!**

"And you're a dead man!" Kazari snickered, grabbing the two Core Medals. Putting them into a pouch on his belt, he had calmed down and was arrogant once again.

I didn't give him a chance to react as I lunged for him, cutting across one of the medals in his arm, dragging it out of him.

"Well, what do you know," I said, noting that I had gotten a Cheetah Medal "I've got a Combo now." Looking back at Kazari, he had begun to lose his balance.

"W-Wha..." He tried to say before losing his balance, catching himself early enough to stay standing, "This isn't over you bastard." He finished, retreating and abandoning his Yummy to its fate as my transformation ended along with me losing my balance, and falling onto my ass. Kazari was much stronger than the Yummy, and just one attack had broken my transformation, something his Yummy hadn't managed to do. Moving on though, I had lost two medals and gained another new one, so I was down to six total, two for each section of the armour, and three of them forming a Combo.

"Jonathan!"

I turned my head to see Louise running towards me holding the Medajalibur. "Are you OK?"

"I'll be fine, just need a moment to catch my breath." I replied, managing to stand up. "Just got to finish off the Yummy now." Tonight's madness wasn't over just yet. Taking the sword from Louise, I checked the medals still in my belt, and went off to help Tabitha and Kirche, Louise following close behind.

Meanwhile, in the Dining Hall, the Yummy was having a difficult time facing off against Tabitha, who was fighting alongside Kirche.

"Fireball!" Kirche declared, sending a large ball of flame hurtling into the Yummy, knocking it back and chipping off a sizable chunk of Cell Medals. "I'll do everything I can to let Darling's plan succeed, and for that to happen, you won't get past us!"

The beast roared as it tried to strike Tabitha, albeit much slower than it would have if it was outside, given the fact that the room was brightly lit. The attack missed, Tabitha having ducked under the claws and placing the end of her staff against its chest.

"Air Hammer." Tabitha muttered, the punishing wind spell not needing any time to reach its target, sending the Yummy flying into the ceiling.

"We're really keeping it at bay, aren't we Tabitha?" Kirche asked, smiling.

"Focus." Tabitha replied, readying her staff again. Kirche quickly readied her wand in response.

The two nobles stood ready as the Yummy fell to the floor, getting up and struggling to stay standing. The three of them were surprised though when Louise and I opened the doors and walked into the room, having already transformed into the TaToBa Combo again.

"Darling! How did everything go outside?" Kirche asked, slightly curious.

"To cut a long story short, I've lost two medals, gained another, and the Yummy's now on its own." I replied, grinning under the helmet.

"Really? We've won?" Kirche asked, surprised.

"Not yet, but we're just about there. Just got to finish this guy off." I said, lifting up the Medajalibur. Grabbing three Cell Medals that the Yummy had lost while Kirche and Tabitha were dealing with it. I looked over to them, "Want to see what this sword can do?"

"Pay attention you idiot!" Louise shouted, jumping up and slapping me in the back of the head.

"Fine, I'll get on with it." I said, sighing. I loaded the three Cells into the sword and released them into the chamber inside the blade. Grabbing the scanner I ran it across the medals.

**TRIPLE! SCANNING CHARGE!**

Readying myself for an attack as the energy built up on the blade, the three girls stepped back, and I released the attack on the Yummy as it tried to strike me.

"OOO Bash!" I shouted, dividing the Yummy diagonally from the left shoulder, and cleaving the hall into two pieces at the same time, stunning Kirche and Louise, hell, even Tabitha had shown a little surprise at this attack, albeit amounting to her eyes being slightly wider as the attack finished, repairing the damage to the hall but leaving the Yummy in pieces, it exploding moments later. I turned to Louise, breaking the transformation as what looked like hundreds of Cell Medals fell to the ground like rain.

"Told you they explode." I said, falling to the ground, exhausted.

* * *

><p>The next morning, after I had been given some minor first aid, and been given a chance to rest, I was sat in the principal's office. Louise, Kirche and Tabitha were sat on either side of me.<p>

"I presume, given that there was a great explosion in the dining hall last night, and that since the four of you are sat before me, that you were victorious?" Osmand asked calmly.

"Headmaster, we were successful, but I'm afraid that two Core Medals were lost to the enemy in the attack." Louise replied, moving to answer before I could.

"However, I managed to take a Core Medal from them as well, weakening him in the long run." I added, holding up the Cheetah Core.

"I see. May I ask why Miss Zerbst and Miss Tabitha were involved in the battle as well? You never mentioned that part to the staff, and we were under the impression that they would be protecting younger students."

"About that, it was kind of at the last minute..." I started, Kirche taking over.

"We volunteered to assist Jonathan in battle because he had decided to attempt to weaken the one that created the Yummy. In order for that to be effective, keeping the Yummy away from its creator was paramount." She replied.

"Divide and Conquer." Tabitha muttered, as she continued to read.

"Very well. Next time, inform us when you decide to do something like that so we're aware of it ahead of time. Regardless, Ms Vallière, Ms Zerbst and Ms Tabitha, the three of you are going to receive awards for services to the school. Mr Harris, I'm afraid that because of your status as a Familiar, we cannot give a similar award to you. However, I can offer you one request, so is there anything else you'd like instead?" Osmand replied.

"I don't mind not getting an award, but seeing as I'm allowed one request... I've not had much luck with food since I arrived here. If you make it so that I can have the same quality of food that a student would get, I'd be happy with that." I replied, smiling. At the very least, it would mean that I could be a bit more open with what I ate, and I wouldn't have to take up the head chef on his offer of good food without Louise noticing.

"Very well, I'll arrange that for you." Osmand replied warmly. He dismissed us after that, and the girls left to go to study, while I decided to train with Derflinger.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in another location, far away from the Academy, an odd racket could be heard from a property long thought to be abandoned.<p>

"That bastard took one of my Medals! How dare he, I'll kill him!" Kazari roared, slamming his fist into a nearby wall. "Next time I see him I'll take all of the Cores he has and end his pathetic life!"

"_Now now, you need to stay calm Kazari. You may have lost a Core in your battle against Rider boy, but don't forget, you took two from him."_

"Yeah, but they're not ones from my set. You take them. One of them is yours after all." Kazari replied, snarling.

"_Why, thank you. Right now, I think our best option is to gather Cell Medals, that way we can build our strength and launch an overwhelming attack on him when we're much stronger."_

"And where do you think we'll get these Cells? All of the ones from my Panther Yummy is in OOO's hands now, and I doubt you're ready to start making your own. After all, you woke up after I did."

"_You don't need to worry about me. You managed a Yummy not long after you woke up. I should be able to provide us with a sizable amount. All I need is a host, and if anything, I know just the place."_

* * *

><p><strong>With that, Chapter 4 is finally complete! Clocking in at just over 6,100 words and around 12-13 pages on Word, it's been a long time coming for this, and I'm going to have to pick up the pace for this next one. I promise it won't be as long a wait between this chapter and the next. I had school work to do, not to mention job hunting and an untimely passing within the family. All in all, I found it really hard to get motivated for doing more of this, but that's all passed. I'm ready to go, so Chapter 5 is on the way!<strong>

**I'll see you next time!**


	5. Performance, Thief and a Princess

_Medals of Zero_

_By JirouGarulu_

**Disclaimer:  
>I do not own any aspect of this story, neither Kamen Rider OOO nor Familiar of Zero belong to me, they belong to their respective companies. This is a fan-made piece of work and should not be distributed for profit. This is only to be posted on for the purpose of free entertainment and as such I will find out if it appears anywhere else.<strong>

**Author's Note:  
>OK, coming up two years since the previous chapter. Let me get a few things out in the open so I can explain this gap.<strong>

**1 – I lost two grandparents in 2012, with only a couple of months between them.**

**2 – I failed my final year of University and subsequently my course, because they didn't automatically offer resits for final years at my old Uni. I had to appeal to get them to give me a retry for that year, and while that succeeded and I got the opportunity to re-attempt that year it was my absolute last chance (ie. No fall backs whatsoever. If I failed again, that was it) I had to prioritize my studies over everything else. **

**On the plus side, I've successfully passed my second attempt at that year (albeit with a retry of one nightmare of an exam over the summer) and I have since graduated with honours.**

**3 – I lost my job at the start of the first attempt at my third year and I opted to focus on my studies at that point, although after the first semester point one then got in the way and the resulting lack of motivation to study following that led to point two. I've been searching for a job and as of yet have not gotten one that's been permanent, although I have recently finished a temporary one. I'm also now part of a training course that may lead to a permanent job at the end.**

**4 – As of the 20th March 2014, my family has had to part with one of our dogs, a 14 (about one month off of turning 15) year old spaniel that we've had since she was three months old. While she passed away peacefully, it's still a fresh source of pain at the moment.**

**So yeah, it's been a tough couple of years and I still managed to release one chapter between the two instances of my Grandparents passing away. Yeah. Here's another thing, specifically to this one recurring anonymous commenter that seems to be badgering me for this chapter. Here we go.**

**Banging on my quote-unquote 'door' and asking about the next chapter is not going to get it released any quicker. I work at my pace, and I've been busy with other things alongside that. It'll be released when I think it is good to go, but it **_**will**_** be released. Understand?**

**Right then, venting over, onto the chapter itself. **

_Chapter 5: Performance, Thieves and a Princess_

It had been about a week since the whole mess with the Yummy, and things were settling down into some semblance of normalcy. The only things of any note was Guiche being taken back by Montmorency, and with a little help from Tabitha, I was beginning to get a base understanding of Halkeginia's written language. It wasn't all that far from what things were like back home, it was more like a symbol change. The letters that I'd see back home all had a counterpart here. While I had yet to be able to read it quickly or be able to write in this world's style, I could at least work out what was written in books and such, given enough time and a few sheets of paper for deciphering.

I had also learned a fair amount about how this world's magic worked. From what I had been taught, there were five elements of magic, although one of them has had no known users for a very long time. Those elements were Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and the missing one was Void. According to Louise, that was also the reason for her nickname of Zero among a large portion of the student body. She didn't belong to any of the four main elements, or at least she had no skill in them, creating explosions every time she tried a spell, even a simple one. It explains why she never really practiced around me, and it meant that I now knew the source of the regular explosions that I heard on Campus.

Outside of all that, Louise had me practicing for some big display of the familiars that was being held soon. Once she had found out that someone from her past was going to be there (she refused to tell me exactly who it was), she had started to get a lot more inquisitive about the Medals, and had even tried to get me to use the full yellow combo during the performance. As you can imagine, I flat-out refused to do that, especially since the element of surprise only worked once. If I wasted it on a performance, that choice would easily make the rest of my time as a Rider into a difficult one, especially since only Louise and myself had seen Kazari from up close. If Kazari was around here somewhere, it wouldn't be too hard for him to blend in just by changing a few features, or even just wearing either a hat or a pair of glasses. Not to mention that somewhere out there was the one who was using Gamel's medals. That person had a much bigger advantage because we'd not met them yet, so with nothing to go on, Gamel's successor could be anybody.

Even then, Louise was adamant about the subject.

"As your master, I ORDER you to use the three yellow Core Medals together when you perform!" Louise yelled, for what felt like the 30th time this week.

"And I say no. It's best to save them for an emergency, what if I use them, transform back from Rider form, and _then _a Yummy attacks? Kazari is still out there, and so is the one who's likely taken on Gamel's medals. I'd be too exhausted to fight them, and what would happen then Louise?" I asked in response.

"W-We'd figure something out. We did before, Kirche and Tabitha were able to hold off a Yummy while you fought Kazari."

"Yes, but said Yummy was already much weaker than it normally would have been. Remember, when it was in the dark, it mopped the floor with me. They fought it in a well-lit room where it was being weakened by the light. There is a difference there Louise, and when you consider the levels of a Greeed and compare it to a Yummy, I would be like a new student of this academy, just starting to learn the fundamentals of Magic, taking on an experienced Square-Level Mage. There's a big difference."

"Well, I want you to do well at the event, and if you use that form, you'll be sure to do just that."

"Well then Louise, I'll make you a deal. If a Greeed attacks during the festivities, I'll use my full colour combo on it, alright? As for the display, I'll choose what I use, sound fair?"

"I guess..." Louise replied, defeated. "Well what are you thinking of using anyway? You don't have much choice in what you use, and both of your arm medals are suited for close combat. Your two leg medals only allow for different kinds of movement, and your heads only allow for a bright light and... you know, now that I think about it I don't actually know what the Taka Medal is for."

"Enhanced Sight. I become able to see great distances with incredible clarity. It also helps in keeping attacks accurate. It can even spot where the Core Medals are within an individual's body." I replied. "It's more of a support medal than it is one with an offensive ability like Lion."

"Right, so, moving on, what are you thinking about doing for your performance?" Louise asked, "If you aren't using a Full Combo, you'll need to think up something special."

"That's the catch. I will agree, Latoratah would be a good choice, but the cons outweigh the pros. If we're going to make a good impression I need to get creative." I answered, "Perhaps a demonstration under combat conditions? That could work."

I mulled it over for a little while, ultimately coming up short. It would probably end up with me showcasing the armour and finishing with the OOO Bash on some Trash Yummies, although that hinged on being able to summon them. I wasn't a Greeed, so I wasn't even sure that I could do that. I got up and grabbed a few extra Cells and slung Derf over my shoulder.

"I'm going to go check something. I'll be back soon, OK?" I said, opening the door and leaving. I actually left the grounds and got some distance from the school, if my test was successful, I'd need to be able to clean up after myself.

"Right then, if everything works out, then we'll have something to show them at this exhibition." I said, Derf sliding out of his scabbard a little.

"What exactly are ya plannin' Partner?" Derf asked.

"Well, it's simple really. In the show, the quality of the Yummy depended on the condition of the Cell that was used to summon it. A Cell Medal that is in good condition gives life to a high quality Yummy, like the Panther that we fought last time, and the Gorilla from my first battle as a Rider. A damaged Cell however gives a lower quality Yummy, also called a Trash Yummy. That kind of Yummy doesn't actually need a host because they can't mature. They'll latch onto a person and pretty much just generate Cells slowly while making the host a bit greedier from what I can tell." I grabbed the Taka, Kamakiri and Cheetah Cores, just in case they were needed. "I'm thinking; if we can break a few Cells, would that make it so we have something to fight at the exhibition?"

"Ya know, that's an interestin' idea." Derf replied. "Let's give it a go."

Setting the three Cores into my belt, and readying Derf in one hand, I threw a Cell Medal into the air, slicing it clean in two. Almost as soon as both pieces hit the ground, they began to transform, taking on a humanoid shape. "Right, first test. Can I defeat Trash Yummies without needing to transform?"

"Let's see if ya can."

"Let's see how well you work on them." I added, rushing towards the two Yummies. Their movements were slow and clumsy, but they were prefect for what I needed. Dodging the attack from one, I cut its arm off and finished the job on the second strike. As the first one faded away, leaving its Medal Fragment behind (which quickly faded into dust as well), the second one meanwhile tried to grapple me from behind. I barely avoided getting caught, and stunned it by smacking it in the head with the side of Derf's blade.

"Careful, I'm all worn and rusty, remember?" Derf shouted.

"Then we'll have to get you repaired and restored." I replied, lunging towards the recovering Yummy and impaling it in the neck, defeating it.

"That was a surprisingly cold way to finish one off." He said as the Yummy faded away.

"Just ending it quickly. We've at least discovered that I can summon Trash Yummies, and you're great for dealing with those at least, and that's all we needed from those two." I said, returning him to his scabbard, although I later decided not to use Trash Yummies for the display because of the fact that there would be an audience. I couldn't control them, so it was always possible that they'd target the audience.

As I put Derf away, I saw the two Medal Fragments turn to dust. We decided to ask Siesta about somewhere that could restore Derflinger, and she gave us directions for a sword-maker that lived about half an hour away from the school. I went to check them out after asking Louise for some money. While they'd be able to do it, I'd need to leave him with them for the day, and I'd be able to pick him up in the morning. When I showed them that Derf could talk, they practically wet themselves, but quickly relished the idea of getting to work on a sword that was as rare as he was.

While the sword-maker saw to Derf's repair, I returned to the Academy, eager to get some training in with the Core Medals. With everything that was going on, time went by pretty quickly. When I got Derf back, I almost mistook him for a different sword! A quick test told me all I needed to know, they had done a marvellous restoration job. The formerly rusty blade looked almost new, the tell-tale signs being a couple of small nicks near the bottom of the blade, and the hilt, which used to be a dingy brown, had been cleaned and polished, looking more like bronze or something similar. They'd even replaced the cloth around the handle with a new blue one. I gladly paid them and kept the place in mind, they'd probably be seeing a lot more business soon, since if anyone asked, I'd be giving a top-notch recommendation as added thanks.

Regardless, the days passed, and we continued our training, while everyone else prepared their familiars for the big exhibition. Before we all knew it, it was the night before the performance!

"Just so I know what to expect, what are you planning for your part of the event?" Louise asked; I had kept most of it secret from her the entire time. All she really knew was that I was going to be transformed when it was my turn.

"You'll see when the time comes." I replied with a grin as I checked Derf over, making sure his blade wasn't damaged at all. "OK Derflinger, I'd say you're good to go."

"Hehe, thanks, I feel incredible since that repair job." He replied, "By the way kiddo, when're we on stage?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, the Familiar Demonstrations begin at 2 o'clock, and you're on last." Louise replied.

"So that makes us the finale. I can see why you wanted us to use the Full Yellow Combo now." I added, stretching a little. Since Louise was expecting an animal as a familiar, she had gotten some straw brought in to act as bedding, but it wasn't as good for me, my back was starting to ache.

"So you'll do it?" Louise asked, excited.

"Sorry, but the answer's still no." I replied. "I've still got the whole exhaustion thing to keep in mind, plus I've never used a Full Colour Combo before. I might not be able to control it as easily as the other forms, and this one in particular has the somewhat notable accomplishment of _drying out a river through sheer heat _just by entering the form the first time it was used."

Before Louise could respond, there was a knock on the door.

"Hello? Who's there?" Louise asked, as the door opened and a cloaked figure entered. Louise, visibly flustered, raised her wand in self-defence, while I readied Derflinger to help her out, standing in between the two.

"It's good to know that you've gotten a loyal and protective Familiar. It's been a while, Louise Francoise." The figure said, removing their hood. A few bits caught me out at that point, namely the facts that it was a girl under the hood, and she looked like she was Louise's age.

"P-P-Pr-Princess Henrietta!?" Louise sputtered, understandably shocked. I was in the same state she was.

I mean, the Princess showing up in Louise's room? Seriously?!

"That's right!" She replied, running to hug Louise, who was still trying to process what had just happened. "Oh, and don't worry, neither of you were aware that it was me, so there'll be no trouble for being ready to attack."

"You say that, but I think it's a bit overwhelming for her, just look." I said, pointing out Louise's expression. While the Princess, err, Henrietta, looked at Louise, I realised something about events earlier that day.

* * *

><p><em>It was around the middle of the day, and each of the students in Louise's year were busy preparing for the Familiar Demonstration. Looking around, I could see Kirche and her Salamander practicing a few tricks, while Tabitha sat on the sidelines with Sylphid. I guessed that just the fact that her familiar was a Dragon was impressive enough, but I had no idea what they would do during the performance itself. Moving on, Guiche and his mole, Belldandy, were busy doing something completely strange and completely indescribable using a few gems, and I couldn't see Montmorency anywhere.<em>

_Everything ground to a screeching halt though when Headmaster Osmond walked towards the Main Gate, the entire staff in tow._

"_You think we should check it out?" I asked Louise, who nodded as she got up. The two of us entered the growing crowd._

_Looking out from the crowd, a lot of people had begun whispering among themselves, and I saw a carriage at the Main Gate with a large group of guards and other retainers surrounding it. One of them, a woman in rather tough looking armor, stepped forward and addressed the crowd._

"_Now arriving, the Princess of Tristain! Her Highness, Princess Henrietta de Tristain!" She declared, as the carriage opened, allowing a girl that looked to be about Louise's age to step out from it and allowing the crowd to see her. It was at that point she walked towards Osmond and greeted him with a smile. Osmond then led her into the school, both the School staff and the Princess' escort following them._

"_So that's the Princess. She's definitely got that leader vibe about her." I said, waiting for a response from Louise and not getting any. I looked over to her and saw that she wasn't even paying attention, she was just staring at the doors to the school, a calm smile on her face._

"_Huh? Sorry, I didn't hear you. Shall we get back to training?" She asked, a lot calmer than normal._

"_Sure." I replied, as the two of us returned to our practice._

"So that's why she was so calm when you showed up." I said, "The two of you are close friends, aren't you?"

"That's right. Louise was chosen to be my playmate while we were children. We've been childhood friends ever since. That's why we're such close friends, and that's the main reason I'm here for the Exhibition." Henrietta replied. "I wish you all the best for tomorrow, Mr. Familiar."

"Please, call me Jonathan. Jonathan Harris. It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness." I replied, bowing.

"Likewise, then I wish you all the best, Mr. Harris." Henrietta said, smiling.

"Y-Your Highness, you shouldn't be here on your own! What if something were to happen to you?" Louise asked, a little nervous.

"I've been informed about the Familiar you've received Louise, as well as the monster that assaulted the Academy. I'm certain that if something unexpected were to happen, that Mr. Harris would be able to drive them away."

Well, that added a bit of pressure.

"I'll do my best to keep you safe." I replied, standing at the side of the room as the Louise calmed down a little and the two began a small but intimate catch-up session, touching on a few family related matters. It could only last a few minutes though, since the Princess had to quickly leave to ensure that her guards wouldn't notice that she was gone. I offered to shadow the Princess on her way back, to ensure that nothing would go wrong. Henrietta told us it wasn't necessary, and quickly made her exit.

"You've got a good friend in her Louise." I said, after a minute or so of silence. "It's easy to tell that even as the Princess, and even with all the things that're going on in Tristain and this school, one of her top priorities was to see you." I added, closing with a large yawn. "Anyway, I'm going to sleep, I've got to be rested and ready for the festivities tomorrow."

With that, I gave Derf, Louise and my Driver one last look before I went to lie down on the pile of hay, going to sleep after a minute or two. I don't know how long Louise stayed awake after that, but when I awoke the next morning she had at least gone to bed, so I know she at least would be rested for the exhibition.

The next day, the Familiar Exhibition got into full swing, with a lot of students showcasing the skills of their familiars. Of course, the ones I was paying attention to were Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha, and Montmorency. Suffice to say, the four of them had thought ahead and demonstrated key skills for each of them, from Kirche's Salamander showing high levels of control over its fire breath, to Tabitha showing how Sylpheed could manoeuvre in mid-flight. Considering we were the last ones to be performing, it added a decent amount of pressure on us to really put on a show.

"So, what Medals are you using?" Louise asked, looking over the Medals we'd obtained thus far. We had the full Yellow set, as she was not-so subtly trying to coax me into using, albeit unsuccessfully. I think part of her wanted to see just how powerful a Combo was. I was getting in a bit of stretching, and Derf was off to the side, apparently asleep, I could never tell.

"I'm going to use the Taka-Tora-Cheetah trio to start off, and I asked Guiche for a little help setting things up."

"What're you planning?" Louise replied.

"Basically since Tora and Kamakiri work more or less the same way, I'm going to show off the Cheetah and Batta Medals." I explained.

"So you'll focus on the Jumping and Speed medals? Where does Guiche come into that?"

"It's simple really. I asked him to set up a few obstacles for me to work with, and for the showstopper, I've got something rather clever ready to go." I added. Before I could go on, an assistant approached us.

"Ms Vallière? Mr. Harris? It's your turn." They said. I made sure I had my medals all ready to go, and we followed the assistant to the stage. Mr Colbert introduced us, and we showed ourselves. The crowd was reasonably big, mainly families for each of the students that were performing (I couldn't see anyone in particular that could be Louise's, no pink hair in sight) and faculty from the Academy, along with the Princess and her entourage (including one rather intimidating looking swordswoman), and their eyes were all on us, for all of about five seconds, at which point they sort of disregarded us.

Clearing her throat, Louise started us off.

"I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, and my familiar, Jonathan… is a…" She stated, clearly not comfortable with the last part given the fact that almost no one would understand the term. "Kamen Rider?"

Well, at least that had caught their attention, the adults in the crowd began to talk among themselves, probably trying to work out what a 'Kamen Rider' was. I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Shall I take it from here?" I asked. With a small nod and a smile (I think that was legitimately the first time I saw her smile, holy crap) she stepped back and let me take over for her.

To be honest, I hadn't thought that part through. I was pretty nervous as well.

"Well, erm, first of all, thank you to Guiche for giving us a little help with this demonstration. Now without further ado…"

I revealed the Driver and took out the three Cores I was using. Putting them all into place, I grabbed the scanner, ran it across the Cores, and declared:

**HENSHIN!**

**TAKA! TORA! CHEETAH!**

When the transformation ended and my armor was on full display, the crowd started murmuring again. I could actually make out a few comments.

"What in Brimir's name is that?"

"Isn't a Cheetah some kind of large cat? Then what are the other two names that were called?"

"Oh, he's got yellow legs now?"

That last one had to be from a student, there must have been a few from the other years in the crowd. Either way, I had their attention now, so I just had to roll with it.

"Yes, yes, I understand the confusion, allow me to explain. This armor enhances my physical abilities for the sake of combat. I have three sections, the head, arms, and legs," I explained, gesturing to each section as I noted them, "that are able to be changed in the mid-battle with a lot of combinations available due to that dynamic. Right now I have five combinations at my disposal, and should I be able to call upon the full power of this armor, then I would actually possess over 300 potential combinations for use in battle. However, due to similarities between four of my forms, and other factors restricting the use of the fifth, I will only be demonstrating two of them here, so let's get the show on the road, shall we? "

I wasn't sure if they knew the expression. Looking out into the crowd, they seemed to confirm that guess.

"Erm, in this case, it means 'let's begin the demonstration'. Guiche, whenever you're ready."

That seemed to be something they were more used to. I got ready to run at the first few obstacles that Guiche had laid out for me, a few pillars of rock that were about my height but were far enough away from each other it would normally take a few seconds to move from pillar to pillar. As I took the starting position, the Cheetah legs began glowing. I took off like a shot, no one expecting speed like I had, and when I reached the pillars, I was moving between them so quickly I wasn't sure if people were able to keep up, so I decided to run to the other side of the crowd, letting them know where I was when I'd stopped.

The performance continued for a little bit, with me using a few of Guiche's Valkyries for mobile targets, and finishing by switching back to TaToBa and performing a Rider Kick on the final Valkyrie, making sure that it was far enough away that the explosion wouldn't catch anyone, but still close enough to be seen.

The crowd was pretty impressed from what I could see. They were a lot more attentive to the suit than they had been before, if that were possible, and the Princess was clapping with a warm smile on her face. I returned to my civilian form and bowed to the audience.

Overall, a rousing success.

Up until the loud crash that came from the main building.

"That wasn't part of the performance, was it?" Louise asked as she ran towards me, clearly worried.

"Unless Guiche decided to throw something in without me knowing, then no." I replied. I made sure that the Cheetah Medal was back in the belt. "Stay here, Louise. Something able to make a noise that loud, it can't be good."

Before she had the chance to respond, I transformed back into OOO and hot-footed it to where the crash had come from, the other side of the tower to where the demonstration was being held. To say I didn't expect what I saw there would be an understatement.

A large, moving earth monster was trying to break open the tower, and from the sound of things, it was getting close to doing just that. I could see there was someone on the monster's shoulder.

"Hmph. So the armoured commoner's decided to show up?"

The person on that thing's shoulder was definitely a woman. There was no mistaking that voice for male. I didn't have much time to ponder though before the monster tried to swat me away. While I was able to dodge (Thank you Cheetah Legs), it was still sudden enough that I only barely got away.

"A golem?!"

Turning to see who had arrived on the scene, it was Guiche (carrying Derflinger) and Louise.

"I must say, it's quite a large one." He noted.

"Any ideas on how to take it down?" I asked, as the Golem tried to strike the tower again, without much luck.

"The only sure-fire way to disable a golem would be to defeat the one who cast the spell. Just be warned, my Valkyries are a similar style of magic, but they make up for a lack of pure power with numbers. From the look of things, this one was created with the opposite capability in mind." Guiche explained. "I'm afraid I can't say much more than that. Sorry."

"Don't worry; you've at least given me an idea on what to do." I replied. "Now for the problem. I don't have any long-range attacks, so I've got to get close if I want to go after that woman who seems to be pulling the strings."

I decided to switch things up a little, and changed Cheetah for Batta.

**TAKA! TORA! BATTA!  
>TATOBA! TATOBA TATOBA!<strong>

"No cells on hand, so Derf, you're up!" I shouted, taking the now wide awake sword and readying it.

"Ready to fight, Partner!" He replied, as I leapt towards the person riding the golem. I got to about eye level on the golem (at least what looked like eyes, I wasn't quite sure) only to be snatched out of the air. Thing was faster than it looked.

"Is this all the hero can accomplish? I heard that you were much more capable than that." The woman said mockingly.

"So I've never fought something this big before. It's a learning curve."

"Learning curve or no, this is the end for you." She replied, tapping her foot. At her command, the golem started to tighten its grip. In a word, it hurt.

"Get your hands off of my Familiar!" Louise shouted, taking aim with her wand.

"Louise, no! Think things-" I gasped.

"FIREBALL!"

Her wand began to glow for a brief moment, before the spell fizzled and a small wisp of smoke came out the end of it.

Then there was a large explosion on the Golem's hand. The spell must've been a dud. I was caught in the blast, but at least it had loosened its hold.

"Are you crazy Louise?! I'm in the firing line!"

"Sh-shut up! It was just a little mistake, that's all!" She replied, upset. I was about to say something else, but I heard something strange. Like something cracking.

"It can't be. That magic broke the barrier?" The woman asked herself as I turned to see the wall beginning to break. "Well, that certainly removes some of the hassle!" She added, signalling to the golem. It threw me away, and I hit the ground with a thud, breaking the Rider Transformation. Following that it proceeded to punch the wall, creating a large hole. Using the arm as a bridge, the woman ran into the building through it and soon emerged with an odd looking box in her arms.

"Finally I've found it!" She said, grinning as the golem turned and began to walk away. "Goodbye for now!"

Louise and Guiche meanwhile had run towards me.

"Jonathan!" Louise cried, "Are you alright?"

"That was a frightening level of strength it showed, and it was quick too. How can we hope to beat it?" Guiche asked.

"I'm in fair bit of pain, but that'll fade Louise. The armour took the brunt of the impact. As for that golem, I don't know, but right now, I think that whatever she took would be the bigger threat. We need to talk to Osmond." I replied. The two of them looked at each other and nodded, as we heard a roar coming from above. It looked like Sylphid and that meant that Tabitha had seen what was happening.

Why could things never go smoothly?

_**To Be Continued**_

**So, with that, the fic is officially back! I won't set a timeframe for the next chapter, to be honest I need to pull a quick refresher on the series. But we'll start to take some larger deviations from canon next time, I can say that much. See you then!**


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